I remembered his face, but not his name
I had forgotten it a second after he told me.
I was wrong footed at the door what with the dogs barking and all.
So it took several minutes to restore order, quiet and peace.
I sat him on the couch , and I sat on the grey chair under the lamp
He refused the offer of tea.
Albert walked through sniffing loudly before we cut to the chase
I will call him Jim
Jim used to enter my flower show a decade ago
He asked about the “ Sponsor a pane “ initiative for the hall, that’s why he was there
His partner had died four years ago now and he wanted to sponsor a pane in her memory
But they had lived almost 7 miles away so he wasn’t sure he could fit the criteria
I told him of course he could sponsor one.
He was so worried that he didn’t qualify
We chatted
“ I miss her on Sunday’s the most “ he told me gently “ having breakfast which we made together listening to the radio “
“Cooking alongside someone without chatting “
I nodded and told him that I was divorced so understood a little tiny bit of what he described .and
Jim surprised me by saying without any guile
“Oh Divorce can feel worse than a regular bereavement “
We talked about it for a while and I was oh so grateful for his insight and vindication , …he was divorced too
He booked a pane of glass in memory of his partner
And I told him the inspiration of the whole event was the fact that for his 31st birthday, many years ago, I had sponsored a pane of glass in Sheffield’s newly revamped Botanical Gardens glass house Pavilion, for the Prof ….
“How Good Is That.” Jim said with a smile
from Going Gently https://ift.tt/XDvFPpY
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